"Films and hotels have many aspects that are the same. For example, there is always a big vision, an idea."

"I think a sequel is a waste of money and time. I think movies should illuminate new stories."

"You're in a profession in which absolutely everybody is telling you their opinion, which is different. That's one of the reasons George Lucas never directed again."

"You ought to love what you're doing because, especially in a movie, over time you really will start to hate it."

"When I was about 9, I had polio, and people were very frightened for their children, so you tended to be isolated. I was paralyzed for a while, so I watched television."

"When I do a novel, I don't really use the script, I use the book; when I did Apocalypse Now, I used Heart of Darkness. Novels usually have so much rich material."

"They needed someone to write a script of The Great Gatsby very quickly for the movie they were making. I took this job so I'd be sure to have some dough to support my family."

"The stuff that I got in trouble for, the casting for The Godfather or the flag scene in Patton, was the stuff that was remembered, and was considered the good work."

"The professional world was much more unpleasant than I thought. I was always wishing I could get back that enthusiasm I had when I was doing shows at college."

"Ten Days That Shook The World, by Eisenstein, I went to see it, and I was so impressed with this film, so impressed with what cinema could do."

"Roger Corman exploited all of the young people who worked for him, but he really gave you responsibility and opportunity. So it was kind of a fair deal."

"I wanted to write and direct movies and not be forced to adapt them from a bestselling book."

"As long as I can make lots of money in other businesses, I'll continue to subsidize my own work."

"The internet in hotels should be free - and I really resent it when they charge you five dollars for a bottle of water beside your bed."

"I used to love going into local hardware stores, to look at little things they made locally. Nowadays it's harder, though you can still do it in Vietnam."

"It takes no imagination to live within your means."

"I'm no longer dependent on the movie business to make a living. So if I want to make movies as other old guys would play golf, I can."

"Most filmmakers can't afford to try something out that doesn't work."

"We do things for good reasons that are bad."

"I was never sloppy with other people's money. Only my own. Because I figure, well, you can be."

"I probably have genius. But no talent."

"'The Godfather' changed my life, for better or worse. It definitely made me have an older man's film career when I was 29."

"I have more of a vivid imagination than I have talent. I cook up ideas. It's just a characteristic."

"I just admire people like Woody Allen, who every year writes an original screenplay. It's astonishing. I always wished that I could do that."